I tried plyban for the first time yesterday on a Gouda. I found it very easy to work with as compared to fabric cheesecloth. However, the sides of my cheese have verticle crevices (embedded wrinkles) that I have not seen before when using cloth.

Is there a trick to getting smooth sides when forming the cheese in a mold with plyban, or is there some other explanation for the difference.

The first cheese is a mustard seed Gouda I made yesterday using plyban in the mold. The second photo is a Havarti I made last week using fabric cheesecloth. There are no embedded wrinkles in the sides of the Havarti. I used the same 7.5 inch diameter Tomme mold for both cheeses.

I started off using cheese cloth and from time to time had problems of the curd sticking to the cloth during pressing. I only use Plyban now. As far as the wrinkles on the sides of your wheels it is just a matter of technique. One that you will master as you have all the rest. Just takes a little messing around by gently pulling up all around the hoop after you have the follower on.

Keith, I did pull up gently on the plyban while filling the curds, and each time I flipped and redressed it (six times). I think the wrinkles came from the initial molding (pressing under whey) before first flip. I noticed them on the first flip, and they never seemed to change, although it is hard to tell. One wrinkle looks very much like any other.

What I do is firmly and evenly press the curds into the form with my hand as I'm filling it to try to get even density throughout. Then I pull up on the edges all around to eliminate bunched up material.

The plyban is much thicker than regular cheesecloth. Maybe I need to pull up more aggressively while holding the curds down with my hand?

That's a good thought, Sailor. Maybe just eliminate the cheesecloth after the last flip?

Which briings me to another question. What purpose does the cheesecloth in the mold serve? Why not just press naked all the time? If you start out with light pressure, I don't imagine much curd would squeeze out through the holes in the mold. For molds without bottoms you might have to clamp the mold down in your pan so the curds can't squish out the bottom. In fact, some presses are designed to do that. My press from Hoegger is designed that way.

The other thing I was thinking might work is to cut top and bottom circle of the plyban to fit the mold, and a strip to fit the circumference. Then there'd be no folds.

On Debi's suggestion, I have used the cut-to-fit strategy on several makes recently. It's not a perfect solution, but it does eliminate a lot of excess Plyban.

I would agree. Press with the Plyban until you are getting a good knit. Then you can remove it and continue pressing. If you are pressing "warm" either under whey or in the pot with warmth added, you may find the curd coming through the mould holes without the Plyban or cheesecloth. I can testify to this for my Maasdam and Cheddar. Those are using firm pressure (250lbs and/or 8psi) though.

I cut seveval pieces at once for each mold type I use, tops bottoms and sides and keep them in ziplock bags tucked into the mold. When I need them they are already cut and ready to place in the mold. They wash very nicely and can be reused many, many times. I don't think I have ever wore one out but I loose them from time to time.

When wet they stick to things like cling film so if yoy wet you mold with whey then place the plyban on the bottom and wrap it around the sides it will stay put. Then just add the top and press away! Makes a cheese almost as clean as a kadova mold.